Tim's Therapy
by dragonprincess1988
Summary: Tim gets forced into therapy. *Takes place before Tim's dad's death*


Tim walked into the small corner office and sat down in the comfortable leather chair in front of the desk. He took a moment to examine his surroundings. There weren't any personal effects in the office, which he liked. He didn't need to see how this person spent his or her time away from the office. It took away from the fun of figuring it out on his own. There was a plain brown box in the corner that Tim stared at for a moment. Clearly the person who owned this office was either still settling in or else removing things. He allowed his mind to ponder the different possibilities as he waited.

After a few moments, a tall dark-haired woman holding several manila folders walked in and sat behind the desk. Tim looked her over quickly before she sat down. His mind rattled off the information he had cataloged. She was most likely 5'10'' (without the heels), natural brunette; she had strong calf muscles and a weak upper body, which suggested that she was a runner. She had a tan line on her ring finger which suggested that she was either separated or divorced…judging from the box in the corner, she most likely was just starting the divorce proceedings. She sat calmly, trying to give off friendly vibes, but both her outfit and the fact that her hair was up in a tight bun suggested that she wanted to give off a professional, business-type persona. Her facial expression was supposed to say, 'You can trust me…I'm a therapist', but to Tim it said, '9-5 and then I'm out of here, doing what I want to do, instead of what I have to do.'

Tim internally sighed. This was going to be a long hour. He knew how this was going to go. She was going to introduce herself…he was going to pay attention only to gather more information about her. She'd start asking him simple questions, which he was going to answer with either outright lies or only half truths to three out of every four of the questions. She would ask him completely trivial meaningless things to try and get to know him, and if he felt like adding in some wrenches to the works he'd actually answer truthfully to some of them. In general, she'd leave thinking he was a nice, shy, intelligent young man, and she would assume she was starting to get a real idea of who he was, but would know there was something more to him, and he would leave knowing that she knew the bare minimum…if anything…about him, and she'd never figure out what was really going on with him.

The woman put down the folders she had been holding and smiled up at Tim. "Hello, my name is Anne Miller."

Tim gave a small nod. "Hi, I'm Tim Drake, which I'm sure you know from one of the files you were holding."

Anne picked up a notebook and a pen. "Yes, so, you prefer Tim to Timothy."

Tim shrugged. He was feeling awfully bored. Maybe for his next session he'd come in with the questions and answers already filled out on a piece of paper and just sit here in silence. It would probably be more entertaining. "It doesn't really matter as long as you don't call me Timmy."

She started to write something down, and then glanced back at him. "Why do you dislike the name Timmy?"

Tim wanted to roll his eyes, but refrained. He was a little disappointed that she was being so obvious in her psychoanalyzing. "It's childish." Right now, he knew she was writing something about him being one of those teenagers who wanted to seem more mature than he is due to something--most likely involving his father--which meant her next question was going to probably be some coy little encouragement to get him to talk about his parents.

Anne placed her notebook back on the desk and leaned forward. "So, why don't you tell me a little about yourself, Tim? How about your likes and dislikes, or we could talk about your family?"

Tim wanted to sigh again. Did she have to be so completely obvious? He sat there looking about as bored as he felt. "I like video games and reading. I dislike being bored, and what do you want to know about my family?"

She chewed on the end of her pen for a second. Clearly deciding what answer she wanted to give him. Tim assumed she was searching for the answer that was going to get him to open up the most. He nearly smirked at the thought…little did she know nothing she could possibly say would get him to do that…at least not to the point that she wanted. He mentally told himself to keep track of her nervous habits; so far pen chewing seemed to be it. "Well, what do you want to tell me?"

Tim thought about it and the word nothing came to mind, but that's not what therapists like to hear. So, he gave her the standard answers. "My parents are great people…busy, but they both love me and I'm really lucky to have such a great support system." He couldn't help but feel like he was in the middle of a college interview. They always wanted to know what kind of a support system you had…basically to make sure you weren't just going to drop out after one semester.

She seemed pleased with the answer as she jotted down a few more notes. "So, what about school?"

Tim nearly blurted out 'what about it?', but caught himself. "School's fine…boring mostly, but fine."

Again Anne started writing something before returning her gaze to him. "Do you have any friends at school?"

Tim lazily shrugged, knowing he was displaying boredom and listlessness. "Yeah…a couple."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "A couple? That doesn't sound like a lot. Why do you think you have so few friends?"

Tim wanted to laugh. There were so many answers he could give to that question. He could be defensive and ask what made her think that he didn't have a lot of friends. He could tell her he's just shy. He could say that, due to his intelligence, he finds most people to be boring and slow. He could tell her he doesn't need people. Hell, he could really through her for a loop and tell the truth. He settled on a simple answer that wouldn't lead to too much more discuss about the subject. "I guess I just don't like big crowds. They're noisy."

She nodded slightly and continued with her questions. "So, you tend to like small groups and tranquility?"

Tim nodded slightly. "Yeah, pretty much."

She sat back, and tried to seem as though she was becoming more at ease with the conversation, but Tim had spent enough time with certain people to know that pose was just to make him feel more comfortable…which it didn't. "Why do you think you prefer it that way?"

Tim would have smirked if he hadn't thought it would be giving too much away. "Easier to read, I guess."

She inclined her head slightly. "Hmm, I guess I understand that, so why do you think your father wanted you to come see me?"

Tim gave her a thoughtful pose, as if he didn't know. Truth was, he knew this question was going to come up eventually, and he had already chosen an answer in advance. "Well, I guess he's just like most parents--you know--worried about his kid and making sure that I'm adjusting well to high school and everything."

She smiled at him again. "You seem like a very bright young man."

Tim blushed slightly on purpose. Showing her an intelligent, shy, courteous, and well-adjusted teenager who still displayed moments of awkwardness would get him out of these little sessions as quickly as possible. "Thank you for saying so, ma'am." Tim watched with almost delight as her expression changed at the title. Clearly, she wasn't referred to as such by very many people, especially not by most teenagers. Tim was starting to think he might be willing to have more fun with her during their next session if it was so easy to catch her off guard.

Anne tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear before continuing. "So, what's your favorite subject in school?"

Tim pretended to think about it. "Math…I guess, why do you ask?"

She smiled sweetly at him and Tim was glad that he was used to people giving him those fake reassuring smiles, otherwise he might have said something about it. "I'm just trying to get to know you a little more, Tim, if that's alright with you."

Tim nearly laughed again. What could he really say to that? It wasn't like he had a choice. This was one of those 'you're doing it, so make the most of it' moments his father had forced him into. He knew exactly what she was doing and why she was doing it. He nodded anyway and motioned for her to continue with her questions. Maybe if he got through all of the really boring and useless ones today he could spend the next session counting the minutes away in binary…it would probably be more entertaining.

Tim knew he wasn't showing it in anyway that she could tell, but he was starting to get anxious. He wanted their session to be over with already because it was cutting into valuable Robin time, and even though Bruce knew he would be late, Bruce didn't know why. Tim nearly smiled to himself at that thought because lying to Bruce is easy as long as you know how, and even though Bruce was allowing Dick to pick Tim up at the library when he got done with 'the study group he was forced to join' Tim had to actually smile to himself this time, because lying to Dick was even easier than lying to Bruce…again as long as you knew how.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity to Tim, the session ended, and he raced to the library. He knew he had given himself plenty of time to get there from the session, even with the fact that Dick liked to be early, but the sooner he got there the less chance he ran of being caught. Tim sat outside reading while he waited for Dick. Tim was pleased that he only had to do this once a week, especially when Dick showed up three minutes earlier than Tim had originally planned for.

"Hey Tim, how'd the study group thing go?" Dick threw Tim the extra helmet he had brought with him without even looking at Tim.

Tim caught it lazily before putting his book in his backpack and climbing onto the back of Dick's motorcycle. "Boring as always."

Dick laughed lightly. "Yeah, I guess for you it would be, but upside is, your homework is already done, right?"

Tim inclined his head slightly. "Yeah, it's the only good thing about this study group thing." It wasn't completely a lie. His homework was done, but that was only because when Tim scheduled the sessions he worked in enough time between his last class and getting there to finish his homework.

Dick turned a little to look over his shoulder at Tim. "Why is your dad making you do this anyway?"

Tim shrugged faintly. "I don't know; something about being well rounded and spending more time with my peers."

Dick nodded before pulling out into traffic. "I guess that makes sense…from his perspective."

Tim smiled to himself. He almost felt like lying to the world's two best detectives should be harder, but it wasn't like he was going to complain or anything. Tim knew that if he wanted to keep from getting caught he needed to get these sessions to end sooner rather than later. "So, anything new I should know about?"

Dick shook his head a little as he weaved in and out of traffic. "Not really. Well, except Bruce tried to do…something involving the blender. Alfred is still cleaning up the mess. So, neither of them is in a good mood."

Tim didn't see how that sentence made sense. Bruce usually knew better than to enter the kitchen, not to mention touching any appliances. "Any idea what Bruce was doing? Or how he got near the blender?"

"Alfred was out running errands…thus not there to give him that look. You know, the 'go near that kitchen and you'll be eating dog food for weeks' look. And I think it was a Bat related project. I can't actually tell you what it was other than purple, smelly, sticky, and gross." Dick face scrunched up in disgust at the memory.

Tim sighed to himself and rolled his eyes. "Great, that means he's going to be brooding throughout patrol…more than normal."

Dick smiled to himself. "Yeah, but you're used to it."

Tim nodded. "True."

They were both silent for a moment before Dick began speaking again. "But you know, if you wanted to patrol with me tonight instead, I'm all for that. I've been meaning to spend more quality time with you anyway, and we can always just tell Bruce I didn't give you a choice."

Tim's attention, which had been divided between the conversation and his future plans involving his weekly therapy sessions, was solely on the conversation the moment the words 'quality time' was uttered. That usually almost always meant something was up, which usually almost always meant bad news was imminent. "Is there any particular reason you want to spend 'quality time' with me." Tim didn't make air quotes around the words quality time--mainly because he was holding onto Dick as he continued to veer through traffic--but it was clear by his tone that they were supposed to be there.

Dick laughed lightly to himself. "Relax, it's nothing bad. I just haven't seen you a lot lately."

Tim made a noncommittal noise. "Been busy."

Dick nodded. "You always are."

Tim frowned at that. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," Dick wanted to turn his head to look at Tim, but kept his eyes on the road. "Why are you so defensive today?"

Tim mentally shook his head. He knew there was no reason to be acting this suspicious around Dick, and Tim knew that if he didn't want Dick to start looking for reasons then he needed to stop. "Sorry, guess I'm just tired. It's been a long and draining day."

Dick hummed his understanding. "Do you want to take the night off?"

Tim shook his head a little too enthusiastically. "No, it was more mentally draining than physically. You know how it is, pretending to be dumber than you are just gets tiring sometimes."

Dick nodded again. "Yeah, I know; but I'm sure being Robin helps that."

Tim gave a small smile. "Definitely."

"So, are you patrolling with me tonight?"

Tim shrugged. "Why not?"

"Good, we'll just let Bruce work through his little mood by himself."

Tim smirked a little. "So, what you really mean is that you hope he takes it out on the criminals, and then you plan to just kinda hide for the rest of the night, and hope that our path doesn't cross his tonight."

Dick smiled at that. "See, I knew you were the smart one."

"Right, and you think this plan is a good one, why?"

"Because I have my human shield to make it all better."

"Uh huh, you're older; therefore, you're dealing with the bat glare."

Dick's grin broadened. "Sorry, the younger model always stands a better chance against the glare."

Tim laughed slightly. "Yeah, but I'm sneaky, so it's your problem."

"I'll superglue your hands to one of the work tables."

Tim raised an eyebrow at him even though Dick couldn't see it. "Is that before or after I knock your ass out for even thinking that?"

"It is a great ass."

Tim rolled his eyes at that. "I think your ego is suffocating me."

"That's just the smog, Timmy."

"I'm shocked, that was actually kind of clever."

"Hey…" Dick sounded affronted.

"What? I told you something needed to be done about your ego. I took it upon myself to help you out there."

"Well, gee, how kind of you."

"Aren't I just the sweetest?"

Dick sighed as he rolled his eyes. "If you were any sweeter I'd have a headache…oh wait, I already do."

"Cute…"

"I know I am."

Tim rolled his eyes again. "I see how easily your ego bounces back."

Dick suddenly took a sharp turn. "We all have our talents, Timmy."

"Yeah, can one of yours be not getting us killed?"

Dick laughed as Tim clutched tighter to him. "You take all the fun out of everything, you know that?"

"Oh, I'm sorry; I was taught that dying was a bad thing."

"Well, then you've learned well."

"Too bad we can't say the same about your driving skills…or lack thereof."

"Hey, I can drive." Dick's voice had that insulted tone again.

"That remains to be seen."

"Keep it up, and Robin will be wearing pigtails tonight."

Tim laughed evilly. "I'd like to see you try."

The two of them made it back to the cave in one piece, much to Tim's surprise. "Where is he?" Dick whispered to Tim.

"I don't know." Tim's voice was just as low as Dick's.

"I think we should get ready as fast as possible, and then head out."

Tim nodded. "Agreed."

The two of them were just about to grab their uniforms when they heard a deep voice behind them. "What took you two so long?"

They both froze for a second before Tim slid behind Dick slightly. "You know how Dick drives."

"Hey…" Dick started before Bruce interrupted him.

Bruce nodded. "True."

Tim grabbed his uniform and started walking away. "Oh, and by the way, Dick wanted me to patrol with him tonight."

Dick glared over at Tim, and mouthed 'thanks a lot' before turning his attention back to Bruce. "Yeah, I mean, I haven't really seen him lately."

"Fine." Bruce grunted before walking away.

Dick let out a small sigh of relief as he got ready as well.

***

Forty minutes later, Nightwing and Robin stood on a rooftop overlooking the city. "Thanks for leaving me to deal with B."

Robin smiled. "Any time, big brother."

"I hope you enjoy glitter, because I swear your room is going to be covered in it."

Robin's grin only broadened. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

The End


End file.
